Thermorheological properties of magnetorheological grease and its thermomagnetic coupling mechanism

Abstract

A heating phenomenon exists in the service process of magneto-rheological devices. For magnetorheological devices using magnetorheological grease (MRG) as the working medium, changes in the medium’s rheological behaviors caused by temperature increase will generate challenges in the reliable service of the devices. With laboratory-prepared MRG as the research object, MRG rheological property laws under different temperatures and magnetic field intensities are investigated, and the magnetic properties of carbonyl iron (CI) powder under different temperatures are analyzed. The relationship between the evolution of the MRG structural system and changes in rheological properties under the action of thermomagnetic coupling is discussed. The results show that the MRG structural system is composed of base carrier liquid soap fibers and magnetic chains under the action of a magnetic field, and the soap fibers can strengthen the structural intensity of the MRG. A decrease in the entanglement degree of the soap fiber structure caused by temperature increase will obviously weaken the intensity of the entire MRG system and narrow the regulation and control scope of the MRG rheological properties. The structural evolution of soap fibers under thermomagnetic coupling will affect the chain formation of magnetic particles and ultimately their rheological properties. At low temperature and magnetic field intensity, the entanglement degree of soap fibers is relatively high, and the magnetic force on magnetic particles is weak, which cannot completely overcome the binding of soap fibers. The influence of soap fibers is the dominant factor affecting the MRG rheological properties. As temperature and magnetic field intensity increase, the entanglement degree of soap fibers decreases, magnetic particles gradually disperse from the soap fibers under the action of a large magnetic field force, and the magnetic chain structure gradually becomes the dominant factor affecting the MRG rheological properties. Moreover, the weakening degree of the temperature increase effect on the MRG rheological properties decreases, and the rheological law changes gradually.